


Shark Week Redux

by dazedandamused



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-03
Updated: 2014-02-03
Packaged: 2018-01-11 00:44:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1166582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dazedandamused/pseuds/dazedandamused
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a little short little shark week fluff piece with Ali and Ashlyn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shark Week Redux

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this awhile ago and it was posted anonymously on tumblr; now it's here! Enjoy.

"Holy shit!" Ashlyn exclaims, nearly spitting out her beer. "Did you see that? Oh my GOD!" her eyes are glued to the screen in front of her, unblinking. She’s silent as the bloody image on screen fades to black, and then she turns with an incredulous laugh to her girlfriend.

"Al, did you see that? Fucking insane!" she practically shouts with excitement, and she may even be fist-pumping. God, she loves Shark Week so much. 

But when she receives no response from next to her, her excitement fades slightly. “Ali? Babe?” 

Hearing her name forces Ali to turn slowly towards the other woman. Her eyes are wide, too, but none of the second hand exhilaration Ashlyn feels is present on Ali’s face.

"Ashlyn Harris," she says quietly, eyebrows raised. "You are NEVER, EVER allowed to go surfing again. EVER." Her voice is emphatic and she stares directly into the hazel eyes opposite her. Of course, Ashlyn laughs. Because it seems as though Ali is trying to be stern, but that’s never worked with Ashlyn. Ali should know better by now.

"I’m serious!" She exclaims, grabbing Ashlyn’s wrists. "You so much as put one toe into the ocean and I swear I will kill you before a shark beats me to it," she threatens.

Ashlyn manages to curb her laughter, but she has a small smile on her face as she takes in the complete seriousness of her girlfriend. 

"Babe," she says, her voice slightly patronizing, "don’t you think that might be a little bit of an overreaction?" She raises her eyebrows at Ali, and attempts to pull her in for a hug. But Ali resists, her jaw dropping.

"An overreaction? Ash, that person just got, like, quartered by that shark! You think you’re all fine, miss hot shot surfer, and you go out one day and then you get your leg bitten off and then you bleed out before the boat reaches shore and then I’m left alone, all depressed and with the kids to raise all on my own, and you’re gonna feel like total shit because you should have listened to me but you didn’t, and now you’re dead,” Ali rants, her voice raised an octave, her words coming out rushed.   
Ashlyn’s rendered speechless, which is not something that happens often. Her girlfriend is usually fairly calm and collected, but Ashlyn has to admit that she is also pretty adorable when worked up. She stares at Ali, who is attempting to compose herself after her outburst by taking deep breaths. 

"You think I’m a hot shot surfer?" is the first thing she thinks to say, cracking a grin, and Ali glares at her for a moment before returning a rueful smile.

"So I might have had a dream last night that you got attacked by a shark. I didn’t want you to make fun of me," she says with a pointed glance, and Ashlyn has the good sense to look a bit guilty (she may have somewhat relentlessly teased Ali for covering her eyes during last night’s shark-fest). "So that may be contributing to my behavior at the moment," Ali admits, blushing, and Ashlyn has to laugh a bit.

"You’re kind of the cutest," she says, and this time when Ashlyn pulls Ali towards her, she gives in, and buries her head into Ashlyn’s chest.

"You are also, however, a lunatic," Ashlyn murmurs into Ali’s hair, giving her a kiss on the crown of her head. "But if it makes you feel better, I absolutely promise that I will not get eaten by a shark while surfing. Or while doing anything else. You’re not going to get rid of me that easy," she says solemnly, and Ali laughs.

"I’d prefer not to get rid of you at all," Ali replies, turning to look up at Ashlyn. "Pinky promise?" She holds up her little finger.  
"Pinky promise," Ashlyn reaches down and intertwines their pinkies. It’s quiet for a beat, and then Ashlyn furrows her brow as she recalls a certain portion of Ali’s little rant.

"Wait, when did we have kids?"

"What?"

"The kids that I’m leaving you alone to raise, what’s the deal with that?" Ashlyn feels Ali stiffen slighly in her arms, and she shifts so that they’re able to look at each other.

"I dunno, I mean. Just, something I’ve been thinking about. Someday, you know. Not now," Ali clarifies. "Are you — what are your thoughts on that?" They’ve never really talked about it, aside from vague, hypothetical comments here and there, but it has been something Ali’s been thinking about lately. They’ve been together a while now, and all of that adult stuff - the marriage, the house, the kids - that doesn’t seem so crazy or far away as it used to.

Ashlyn pretends to ponder the question for a moment, giving Ali a tiny anxiety attack, but then Ashlyn’s face breaks out into a wide smile. “My thought on that is that it sounds amazing. I would love to have babies with you, Alexandra Krieger,” she says, pulling Ali in for a kiss.

When they break apart a minute later, they’re both grinning like idiots. 

"Dude, our kids are gonna be fucking awesome," Ashlyn exclaims, and Ali laughs. 

"Of course they will be," she agrees. They settle in to one another again, a comfortable silence falling over the room, and they’re content to stay there, simply being with each other.

Just as she’s about to fall asleep, a final thought hits Ashlyn and she stirs. 

"Aw, damnit, you’re not going to let me take them surfing, are you? Our kids?"

"Not after tonight!" Ali answers immediately, and Ashlyn groans.

"Shark Week has betrayed me. Unbelievable," she grumbles, standing and reaching her hand out to pull Ali up off the couch.

"You know, if we had just watched Real Housewives tonight…" Ali starts, and Ashlyn whacks her on the arm as they head into the bedroom.

"I hate you," she grumbles again, diving into the bed face first.

"You love me," Ali corrects, sliding into bed next to her girlfriend.

"I love you," Ashlyn concedes, rolling over on her side. She wraps her arm around Ali’s waist, her fingers drawing absent-minded patterns on Ali’s ribcage. It’s silent for a moment, and then Ashlyn’s voice fills the air. "But what if they’ve invented shark repellent by then? Or what if we put our kids in Kung-Fu right away so they know how to punch a shark out? Or maybe by then global warming will have killed all the sharks and we can surf in peace! Shit, that would be super awful though. I would hate that. Okay, the sharks don’t die. What if we make them wear like, seven wetsuits, so the shark has a lot to bite through? I mean, it would be kind of expensive, but maybe we’ll be millionaires by then. Oh! I know! If we’re millionaires, we can just, like, build some sort of giant fence in the ocean so that no sharks can come through, but the waves still roll free. That’s actually a genius idea. Don’t you think? Al?"

Ashlyn leans over and sees that Ali’s eyes are closed, her chest rising up and down evenly. She places a soft kiss on her forehead, and curls her body around the other woman. “I love you, Ali B,” she whispers quietly. And then, barely audible - “but our kids are totally gonna learn to surf. And you’re banned from Shark Week,” she adds for good measure, before dropping one more kiss on Ali’s shoulder and drifting off to sleep herself.


End file.
